Robin & Shulk: A heart-to-heart
by EmeraldVisionary
Summary: She wasn't sure what it was, but there was something so fascinating about this boy she had met. He was unlike anyone she had met back in her own world, but he was so easily relatable at the same time. Does he perhaps have a secret he's keeping to himself? An overview on the relationship between Robin and Shulk done in a similar format to Support Conversations. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1: C Rank

**Author's note:** Hey everybody, and welcome to my first story on this site. I'll admit that I've been a longtime lurker for quite some time now, but I just recently had an idea hit me that was powerful enough that I couldn't help but write it down. So in case you couldn't tell from the title, this is a story that revolves around FemRobin and Shulk; a pairing that I personally feel could use just a teensy bit more love. And before I forget, credit goes to ZwesomeRachel on deviantart for the cover picture. If you've got time, be sure to go check out more of her stuff.

On that note, please be warned that this story will contain plenty of spoilers for both Fire Emblem: Awakening and Xenoblade Chronicles. Just a heads up is all.

* * *

Robin & Shulk: A Heart-to-Heart

 **An Introduction** :

It had been only a few weeks since the 4th annual Super Smash Bros. Tournament had officially begun. While the actual tournament bracket had yet to be constructed, the veterans and newcomers who had been invited that year were competing in exhibition matches to help not only the veterans get back in the mindset that Smash brings, but to give the newcomers an idea for how these matches took place. This was not necessarily a tournament built around determining who the best fighter was; rather it was more of a social experiment conducted to help the combatants forge new bonds with each other, settle old-school rivalries, and most importantly to just enjoy themselves. This was an opportunity for combatants from all around the multiverse to come together and learn more about each other combatant, and the worlds that they all come from.

As for today, the exhibition matches taking place were doubles matches. To mix things up, Master Hand, the tournament organizer, assigned each combatant with a randomly selected partner. While the consensus on this decision was low, Master Hand explained his decision by saying that this was entirely experimental, and if the format turns out to be at least somewhat successful, he would allow each combatant to select their own partners the next time around. And thus, we come to the attention of two individuals who were selected to compete alongside each other: A white haired woman named Robin, and a blonde haired man named Shulk.

Before coming to the Smash Mansion, Robin had just wrapped up a rather lengthy and exciting adventure in her home world. Originally born to be nothing more than a vessel for the fell dragon, Grima, she seemingly sacrificed herself in order to destroy him forever. However, a year after her noble sacrifice, she was found in a grassy field by two of her former comrades: Chrom, the Exalt of Ylisse, and Lissa, his younger sister. Not long after this is when she received an official invitation to the 4th annual Super Smash Bros. Tournament. While her initial reaction to being invited to such an event seemed puzzling, she eventually decided that she would accept the invitation, and set off not long after. Upon arriving at the Smash Mansion, she quickly found herself becoming acquaintances with a number of different combatants, and while the entire experience felt somewhat overwhelming at first, it didn't take her too long to get settled in, what with many other combatants joining the ranks of the Smash Mansion almost every day.

Come the day of the doubles exhibition matches, she found herself being paired up with a rather peculiar partner: a young man with blonde hair named Shulk. Unfortunately for her the two didn't have long to get acquainted with one another, as almost immediately after she learned of them pairing up, it was time for their match to start. They had been selected to fight a pair of two different newcomers: Little Mac and Greninja. The bout went rather swimmingly, with Robin and Shulk proving to have excellent chemistry, despite this being the first time the two ever encountered one another. Needless to say, the two found themselves victorious. Although, even though they won, something about that match began to bother Robin. There was a moment near the end when she was facing off against Little Mac while Shulk was busy with Greninja. Robin had charged up her Thoron spell, and let loose against Little Mac, but the young boxer was charging up his straight lunge attack, and simply powered through it without being knocked back at all. After cooling down the spell, she didn't have any time to react to Little Mac headed straight her way with a very powerful punch.

Before she even realized what was about to happen, Shulk suddenly grabbed her and got them both out of the way of his attack. While she was thankful for the swift rescue, it was that exact moment that was bothering her all day after the match. "How did he know I was about to get hit by that attack? Wasn't he on the other side of the arena facing off with Greninja?" She thought to herself. How did he know about that attack before even she did? Robin considered herself to be somewhat of an intellectual, what with being the master tactician for Ylisse's Shepheards for a good number of years, but she couldn't quite put her finger on how he managed to pull that off. "Maybe it had something to do with that red sword he was carrying? What did he say it was called anyway? The Monado? Hm…" She continued to speculate, but she wasn't able to draw any real conclusions, not without knowing anything about his weapon of choice.

After what almost seemed like hours of speculation and wild mass guessing plagued her mind, she suddenly realized where she could find her answer. "Well of course. Why don't I just go find him and ask him? He seems friendly enough." She mentally berated herself for not thinking to do that way earlier that day. Besides, she hadn't really had a chance to formally introduce herself to him anyway, what with their match starting almost immediately after the two learned of their temporary partnership. What better way to find out what I want to know then by going and actually talking to him? Upon deciding what to do, she got up and went in search of his room. "Easier said than done, considering the size of this place… I've only been here two weeks and I'm still discovering new hallways and rooms here… Just how big is this mansion?"

* * *

 **C Rank/ Green Affinity:**

It took her longer than she initially hoped, but Robin finally found the door to Shulk's room. Upon discovering it, she took a moment to relax, and tried to mentally remember the path she took if she ever found herself coming back to this room for any possible reason in the future, before dismissing the thought entirely. She figured she would forget it anyway, and reached for the doorknob before stopping herself. It was rude to just barge in, after all. After taking a deep breath, she lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in!" she heard from the other side. She reached and turned the doorknob and quietly walked inside. She saw him sitting at a desk, seemingly tinkering with something mechanical, with his back facing her. Not even a few seconds later, he turned around to see who it was that had entered his room.

"Oh, hi there Robin. How are you?" Shulk politely asked her. Robin smiled at his polite demeanor. He seemed to be very easy to get along with, despite the lack of proper introductions.

"I'm doing just fine actually. What's that you are tinkering with on the table there?"

"Oh, this here? Princess Peach accidentally broke her alarm clock getting out of bed this morning, so I offered to fix it for her."

Robin was amazed. He offered to fix something that someone else broke without a second thought? "Wow, that's very generous of you!" She said.

"Ah, well it's no big deal, really." Shulk replied. "Repairing gadgets and tinkering with stuff has almost always been a hobby of mine, ever since I was a young kid. I've tweaked plenty of things over the years, so a simple alarm clock shouldn't be too much trouble." He put the alarm clock back down on the table, and looked directly at Robin. "Anyway, you probably didn't come here just to hear me talk about my hobbies. What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about something that happened during our match today. Something that has been bothering me all day."

This managed to get Shulk's attention. He was pretty sure he knew just what it was she was about to ask about, but he kept his mouth shut and let her ask anyway.

"Remember when Little Mac was about to lunge directly at me near the end of the match? And how you swooped in and managed to get us both out of the way just in time? How did you know to get me out of the way in time before I even knew he was about to land an attack? I was fairly certain you were on the other end of the arena, so how did you know what was about to happen to me before even I did?"

Shulk silently applauded himself for guessing correctly what it was she was going to ask about, and noted on her attention to detail when it came to what specifically happened in the match. "Well, the others weren't kidding when they said how great of a tactician you are." Shulk complimented. That's when Robin noticed him starting to frown a bit. "I could tell you, but I'm not entirely sure you would believe me. Most people I tell this to don't tend to when they first hear about it."

Robin was a bit taken back by that statement, but the pressed on. "Oh please, I wouldn't be such a good tactician if I didn't take into consideration things that sounded even somewhat improbable. So, can you please tell me how you did it? I really want to figure out how you pulled that off."

Shulk sank back into his chair, and took a deep breath. "Alright then," he quietly said, before pointing to something behind her. "You see my sword back there propped up against the bed?"

Robin turned around and took a closer look at the red blade. It was unlike anything she had seen back in her own world.

"That sword is called the Monado, and that is no ordinary blade. Whenever I wield that weapon, I am granted the power of foresight." Shulk told her.

Robin looked back at him in awe, before turning back to the blade. "Y-you mean… with that sword, you can see the future? But… how? How is that actually possible?"

Shulk laughed a little bit. So much for taking into consideration even the improbable. "It's alright. Like I said, not very many people are truly able to understand the concept by just having me tell them that it can do that."

She stopped and thought about what he just said. Being able to see the future? That sounds like a concept so unfeasable, but at the same time… "That would explain the incident I came to question you about. You knew that Little Mac was going to power through my Thoron spell and I was going to receive the brute end of it."

"Yeah, as soon as I saw what was going to happen, I immediately retreated from my duel with Greninja and ran over to get you out of the way of his attack."

"But… how quickly did you see it play out? Does that mean you know at the beginning of the match everything that would have happened by the end?"

Shulk proceeded to let out a small sigh at that question. "Unfortunately, no. I only saw you getting hit by Mac about 5 to 10 seconds before he was actually going to hit you. I can't truly control when the Monado gives me my visions. They just sort of happen whenever something bad is about to happen, and they range in duration. Sometimes a vision will tell me what will happen to someone 5 seconds from now, or it might show me what will happen in a few minutes, or even a few hours. A very small few of the visions were shown to me days or weeks in advance of when they actually occurred, giving me plenty of time to figure out what to do to prevent them."

"Wow… Now I wish I had that power… Dealing with Grima would have been a walk in the park if I were able to tell what he planned to do before even he was aware of his own next move…"

Shulk noticed that she looked a tad disappointed, but he wasn't entirely sure why. He did answer her question, didn't he? "Well, do you feel like that answered your question?"

"Definitely, but the problem with that is…" Robin suddenly fell silent.

"…is what? What's the problem with that?" Shulk asked her.

"Well, now I have so many more questions that I want to ask you. I-I mean, would that be alright with you?"

Shulk proceeded to let out a small chuckle. "Sure thing. I'm just about finished tinkering with Peach's alarm clock anyway, so I should have plenty of time to converse with you about whatever you want. Sound good?"

Robin began to lose track of the time, as the two of them just sat there and talked. They told each other about where they came from, the kinds of adventures they both had, and the kinds of people they met along the way. Robin even learned that Shulk went through a pretty similar ordeal to her, being used as nothing more than a vessel for a mad god. The two of them had gone through such similar situations, it was almost as if it were destiny that they were to meet each other at some point.

Shulk was glad that they were able to talk like this, as he felt the lack of introductions they two had earlier that day kind of mystified the type of person Robin really was. Now, he was glad he was getting the chance to know her better, as he felt there was so much to like about her. It wasn't until much later when he realized just how long the two of them had been talking with one another.

"Well, I hate to say it Robin, but it is getting pretty late at this point. Why don't we call it for the night and continue this talk later?" Shulk suggested.

"Aw… but I was really enjoying this talk with you." Robin pouted.

"Don't worry. It's like I said, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow. If we were to keep this up I imagine neither of us would have the strength for any potential matches we are given."

"Well, guess you got me there." Robin sat up from Shulk's bed, and made her way to the door leading back to the hallway. She turned back to him and gave him a warm smile. "Goodnight Shulk."

Shulk smiled back at her. "Goodnight Robin. I'll catch back up with you tomorrow."

Robin quietly closed the door and looked around the hallway. "Oh great," She immediately thought to herself. "Now I have to navigate this maze of a building trying to make it back to my own room. Ughhhh….. Why do all of these damn hallways have to look exactly the same!?" She hoped she would find it soon, as she surely didn't want to spend the rest of the night on the hallway floor…

 **Robin and Shulk attained Support level C!**

 **Shulk [Green Affinity] Robin**

 **Newly met Friends**

* * *

And there we go. It seems that Robin and Shulk have gotten themselves off to a pretty good start so far. What will happen next? Well, I need to figure that out myself actually. Anyway, be sure to leave a review if you've got time. I'm open to any sort of criticism you guys may have. Till next time!


	2. Chapter 2: B Rank

**Author's Note:** Aaaaaand, welcome back! Sorry it took a whole month to get this chapter out. I'm starting to realize just how difficult it is to actually maintain a consistent schedule when it comes to uploading new chapters of a story. I probably would have gotten around to writing this up way earlier if so much real life stuff didn't get in the way. Between college and play sessions of Xenoblade Chronicles X getting in the way, I couldn't really talk myself into sitting down and just typing this up. I finally found some time to work this out though, and well, here we are.

Oh, and by the way, Xenoblade Chronicles X is pretty stinking fantastic. If you have a Wii U, I urge you to at least check it out.

But enough of me rambling. Onto the story!

* * *

 **B Rank/ Blue Affinity:**

"And with that, you are now in check."

"Not quite. You forgot about this particular piece right here."

Shulk moved his bishop into place and took out Robin's queen, eliminating her most valuable offensive piece on the board. It took her a few seconds to realize what just happened.

"…How did I not even notice that bishop was there? Are you using your visions on me, or am I just getting sloppy at this?"

"I wouldn't say you're getting sloppy per say, but I assure you I have not been using my visions to cheat, if that's what you mean."

Robin sighed and sat back down in her chair. The two of them were currently sitting in the library playing a game of chess; their third game, actually. It had been about two months since their initial conversation in Shulk's room, and the two of them truly had managed to become fast friends. While they did make plenty of connections with most of the other smashers, the two of them managed to stick together like bread and butter.

" _Well, now I'm not sure what I should even try next. Without my queen, this is going to be very difficult for me to make a comeback_." Robin thought to herself. " _If only I had some way of faking him out. He still has his queen, a bishop, and two rooks. I just need to find a way into tricking him into easy to reach spots and then- "_

That's when her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing sound close to the library entrance. Robin jumped up in panic, and quickly regained her senses. Shulk quickly looked over to the library door, in an attempt to figure out what just happened. He very quickly got his answer.

It looks like a fight had broken out between Mario and Wario, and it didn't look especially pretty. Mario was knocked out cold on the ground, with a bruised up Wario looking like he might also pass out at any second. Needless to say, their commotion had managed to not only attract the attention of Robin and Shulk, but also a number of the other smashers. Princess Peach walked up, and she looked pissed.

"Wario! What the hell is wrong with you?" Peach screamed at him. Wario, now worried for his reputation (or lack thereof) immediately tried to defend his actions.

"What are ya talking about? That bozo started it!"

"Actually, no he-a didn't. I witnessed the whole thing." A third voice suddenly spoke up. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Dr. Mario, Mario's alter ego.

"Just because Mario has-a been beating you over and over in the past few matches doesn't give you-a the right to knock him out when he-a least expects it. If I were-a you, I would consider yourself lucky Master Hand hasn't found-a out about this yet. You better pray it stays-a that way." Dr. Mario calmly told him. He then immediately went over to Mario and checked on his condition.

"Is he going to be ok?" Peach worriedly asked him. Dr. Mario smiled back at her.

"He'll be-a back to full health by tomorrow. But I must-a recommend I take him to the medical center for now. It would probably be wise if he spends the night there just in case his injuries are more-a serious than I predict."

"Ok. Well, at the very least, let me help you take him there." Peach and Dr. Mario both scooped him up and carried him over to the medical center. Wario, meanwhile, quietly shuffled back to his room, hoping that none of the other smashers would find out about this.

All the while, Robin and Shulk just watched this unfold from their chess table.

"Well, that was… different." Robin quietly stated.

"Hm. You know that reminds me of something." Shulk said. "Dr. Mario and Mario are two different people, right? Then how come they look so similar, sound exactly the same, and have the same name?"

"Oh, I actually asked the doctor about that a few days back. Apparently, the two of them actually are the same person, but from two different versions of the Mushroom Kingdom. You know how Mario has always been at odds with Bowser, right?"

"Yeah, I heard about some of their conflicts in the past. So what makes the Doctor different from the other Mario?"

"Well, in the Doctor's world, Bowser was actually killed in a freak accident in one of their much earlier conflicts. Seeing as how the princess's safety was completely secured, the Mario of that world decided that being a hero no longer suited him, and worked towards finishing his medical degree. He soon became a fully licensed doctor, and the rest is history."

"That's very fascinating. So despite not having to deal with Bowser anymore, he still retains all of his combat skills while becoming a full time doctor. It makes you wonder how good of a doctor he actually is…"

Robin smirked a little bit. "Well, if his fighting style in the matches are anything to go by, I really hope his form of medication isn't just stuffing brightly colored pills down people's throats."

Shulk laughed at that joke, and then thought of another question related to that topic.

"So, if that's the case, does the same thing apply to you and… the other Robin?"

"Well, kind of. I talked to him as well not too long ago, and I found out that our worlds are almost completely identical, with the only real difference being that our genders were swapped. We had the same past, we know the same people, and the events that played out are nearly identical. There is one other thing different about us that I can think of, actually. You know Lucina, right?"

"Yeah. The lady with the blue hair, who claims to be a descendant of Marth, right?"

"That's the one. Well, she also came from our world. The one that came here, though, is from the Male Robin's world. The one from my world didn't get invited…"

" _I really do wonder why that's the case though… Was there a reason his Lucina was invited and mine wasn't? I know the slight differences between me and the other Robin, but what is it about our Lucina's that made Master Hand choose her instea- "_

Shulk looked back at the library entrance, and poked Robin out of her thoughts yet again.

"Well, speak of the devil, there they are right now."

Robin looked over to the hallway outside the library and saw the two of them standing there, deep in some sort of conversation. From what little the two of them could hear, it seemed that the Male Robin was going to leaving back to his own world for the next few days, and promised Lucina that he would be back as soon as possible. She looked a bit worried for him, but agreed to his promise. That's when the two of them did something that Robin never expected them to do.

The two leaned in shared a very passionate kiss.

Shulk smirked. "Well, it looks like those two really are a couple after all. That explains why they spend so much time with each other." He turned back to Robin, and noticed something very peculiar. "Robin, what's the matter?"

Robin was blushing profusely, and her mouth was slightly open, with a look of surprise on her face.

"Robin, are you ok? Speak to me!" Shulk said to her.

She immediately looked back to him, and stammered her sentences a bit.

"S-sorry, but… that was… one of the weirdest things I've seen in quite a long time…"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, think about it from my perspective. I just saw a gender bent version of myself passionately making out with the future daughter of one of my closest comrades. From my point of view, I think I have the right to declare that as weird and unusual."

"…I guess that makes sense, but again, that would explain why the two of them are almost always seen with each other." Shulk retorted. Robin thought about this, and quickly came to another realization.

That just means that he managed to find someone to fall in love with on his journey. And… I still got nothing. It was kind of weird, actually…"

Shulk started to get a little worried. _"I really hope she isn't about to start this topic… this is something I would much rather not talk about with anyone right now…"_ Not wanting to be rude, he kept his mouth shut, and just let her speak her mind.

"Something that didn't cross my mind until just recently was the fact that most of my comrades in the Shepherds managed to find love with one another, but I never found anyone that I felt that way towards."

"… You didn't find anyone that you even felt that towards even just a little?"

"Well, if I'm gonna be perfectly honest, when I first joined the Shepherds, I did fancy Chrom just a teensy bit. But that was before I met Sumia, and I quickly realized that the two of them already belonged together… So I made sure to not get in the way of that."

Shulk, while not really wanting to discuss this topic right now, felt a little bit of sympathy towards Robin. He knew where she was coming from, as he was fully aware now of what it's like to be the subject of attraction for more than one person. He didn't realize it until after his journey was over, but his comrade Melia did secretly have feelings for him for a while. The main reason she didn't act upon them was because of the relationship Shulk had already formed with… **her** …

" _Ok, please change the subject Robin, please change the subject…"_ Shulk inwardly begged to himself. His own love life was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now…

"W-well… I mean… what about you? Did you ever find anyone that you fell in love with back in your own world?" Robin calmly asked him.

" _Damnit. Guess the cat's out of the bag now."_ Shulk inwardly cursed to himself.

"I'm very sorry Robin, but… I… REALLY don't want to talk about that right now." Shulk stated.

"O-oh… um… ok then… maybe later…" Robin immediately realized she must have hit a nerve in him. She wasn't sure why, but she immediately knew to drop the subject.

"Well, we've been talking for quite a while, so why don't we finish up this game of chess? It's not gonna play itself, after all…"

"Y-yeah, sure. I believe it was your turn next?" Shulk calmly said.

The game continued on, but as it neared its end, Robin was very quickly picking up on something. It almost seemed like Shulk wasn't even trying anymore. Robin had taken out a number of his offensive pieces, including his queen, without that much trouble. This was very different from the last few games they had played, where it was almost neck and neck. Right now, Robin had the very clear advantage over him. Within just five minutes, she had managed to corner his king to finish him off.

"And, with that…. that's checkmate…"

"Yeah… I…. suppose it is."

Shulk just sat there staring at the board for what felt like an eternity, before he got up and started putting all of the pieces back into their box.

"I… I'm sorry, Robin, but… I think I need to be alone for a little bit. I'll catch up with you later."

"Oh, um… ok. We can talk some more later."

Shulk made his way to the exit, all the while Robin wondering why he was so melancholy. That's when it dawned on her.

" _It was about that question I asked him… about his love life…_ " Robin realized that asking him that must have brought back a very unfortunate memory for him. She didn't know all of the details, but she was by no means stupid. She could figure out why he must have been so upset.

" _Perhaps… he lost someone very dear to him? If that's the case, it would probably be for the best if I gave him some space for at least a little while…"_

Robin put away the box of chess pieces, and quietly walked back to her own room. She knew it would be a good idea to just let him be for now, but she also wanted to give him the idea that she was available to just talk about it if that's what he needed.

 **Robin and Shulk attained Support Level B!**

 **Shulk [Blue Affinity] Robin**

 **Worried for one Another**

* * *

For those of you who have actually played Xenoblade Chronicles, you know exactly who Shulk is referring to when he was thinking of "her". For the sake of this story being a shipping between Robin and Shulk, I'll explain what "her" whereabouts are in the next chapter. To give you a small idea, this story will deviate a little bit from the original ending of Xenoblade Chronicles. You'll see what I mean in the next chapter. Here's to hoping it doesn't take me a whole month to write that chapter up though. Be sure to leave a review if you got time.

Until then, toodles.


	3. Chapter 3: A Rank

**Author's Note: WARNING. The following chapter of this story contains some MAJOR spoilers for the general plot line of Xenoblade Chronicles. There's a bit of a deviation with the original game's ending and how certain events play out in this story, but I'll explain more in the A/N at the bottom of the page.**

* * *

 **A Rank/ Purple Affinity:**

At this point, Robin was starting to get a little worried.

It had been four days since she had that chess game with Shulk in the library, and… well, they haven't spoken to each other since. Or, more specifically, Shulk hadn't really spoken to anyone at all since then. If Shulk had a match then he would attend that at least, but afterwards he immediately disappeared again.

Robin knew she had to talk to him, but she was also trying to respect his personal space. She remembered that what she probably said in the library must have brought up some kind of memory in his mind, and it was haunting him. Robin wanted to respect that, but…

She desperately wanted to talk to him again. To hear his voice, to see his smile, to be in his presence…

She stopped herself from finishing that thought. That was NOT the kind of thing to be thinking about right now when it came to Shulk.

More importantly, she needed to find him. So she started in the most obvious spot…

His room in the mansion. Unfortunately, the last few times she tried to talk to him here, the door was either locked or he wasn't there. Still, it was the best lead she had right now, and it was the best place to start. So she headed to his room to find, surprise, the door closed. She knocked on the door, but no sound came from the other side.

"Guess he's not here… again." Robin concluded. She mentally sighed, and realized that this attempt was all in vain. If he wasn't there the last few times, what would have made this attempt any different from the last one? "Well, I give up for now. I suppose I'll just try again tomorrow…"

Robin proceeded to head back to her own room, but upon returning there, she noticed something she had not seen before.

There was a letter on the ground close to the door. "How long has that been there?" Robin questioned. She picked it up and turned it over, and began to read.

 _Robin,_

 _I know you have been trying to find me the past few days. I'm sorry if I worried you, but I needed some time to myself to mull over my own thoughts. But I've finally come to a decision, and I feel you of all people have the right to know the truth. Find me in the courtyard out back at 8 o'clock tonight, and I will explain everything._

 _-Shulk_

While she was happy to know that he wasn't mad at her, this just raised further questions. What was it that he wanted to talk about? Was he going to tell her that memory she accidentally jogged in his mind? On one hand, part of her didn't want to know what that was, as it was his right to tell others about it, but at the same time…

She wanted to know what she could do to help him. And so she waited until nightfall, and went out to the courtyard.

By the time she went outside, moonlight had begun to pour over the landscape. The lighting made the entire courtyard glowing with a faint blue light, giving Robin enough illumination so that she could still easily see where she was walking. She wandered around the courtyard for a few brief minutes, until she found him.

He was sitting on a bench with his back facing her, almost in a way that looked like he was meditating. She lightly took a few steps towards him, but moved slower and slower the closer she got to him.

" _Now this is just plain silly,"_ she thought to herself. _"It's just Shulk, one of my closest friends that I've made here so far. So why… Why am I suddenly being so nervous around him?"_

He spoke up, alerting Robin that he was aware of her presence.

"I'm sorry if I worried you the past few days Robin, giving my tendency to disappear." Shulk calmly told her.

"N-no, it's… it's ok, Shulk. I just… wanted to make sure you were alright, is all." Robin managed to stutter out.

Shulk turned around and looked at her, and noticed some key details. For one, she wasn't wearing her tactician's coat; just the white undershirt and pants. In addition, her hair was down, rather than in her signature twin tails. While he mentally deducted this change in attire looked fine on her, he dismissed that thought and began to speak.

"Well, I suppose an explanation is in order. Over the past few days, I've been trying to mentally get over… something that's been bothering me for a while. However, I can't keep this to myself anymore. There's something that I desperately need to let out. Would it be alright if you listened to what I have to say for a while?" Shulk asked her.

Robin sat on the bench adjacent from the one Shulk was sitting in and slowly nodded. "Of course I will. But, before you do, I need to have something clarified."

"What's that?"

"Did… Did what I ask you, back in the library… was this the cause of your temporary disappearance?"

"…Yes, and no. What you did ask me did bring up a rather… painful memory, but it was a memory that's been eating away at me for quite a while now. Your question just brought it up at a very un-opportune time is all."

"If that's the case, then I'm so sorry. I must have just spoke without even thinking."

Shulk looked back at Robin, and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry too much about it. You didn't really have any idea."

That's when he let out a long sigh, and began to tell his story.

"Remember when we had that conversation way back in my room in the mansion a few months back? When we were telling each other where we came from, the friends we made, and the experiences we had? Well, there was… someone that I neglected to mention to you. I was hoping to keep their identity anonymous, but I feel like you have the right to know who that person actually was… and how much they still mean to me."

Robin felt herself tensing up a little bit, as she realized her theory was seemingly correct. "Someone… you neglected to mention?"

"Yes… her name is Fiora."

"Fiora?" Robin quickly picked up on the fact that Shulk referred to her in the present tense rather than past tense. She deduced that if that's the case, she might still be alive. Making sure she didn't come across as disrespectful, she worded her next words carefully. "What's she like?"

"Well, I've known her almost my entire life. We were good friends as children, and we spent a great deal of our time together. I always saw her as one of my greatest friends, but I only realized my true feelings for her… after the first time I lost her."

"The first time you lost her?"

"When the Mechon made their first assault on Colony 9, a year after the Battle of Sword Valley, they were being led by a Faced Mechon named Metal Face. At the time, the Monado wasn't capable of damaging the armor of Faced Mechon, so Metal Face was beating us with little to no trouble at all. That's when Fiora stepped in… and sacrificed herself so that I may live… or so I initially believed.

"So… she actually survived the attack?"

"Technically, she did survive, but I didn't know that at the time. After the attack had ended, I was fueled with anger and hatred. I was so upset over her 'death' I initially didn't know what to do. After a few days contemplating over my options, I decided to leave the colony and pursue Metal Face. At the time, all I wanted to do was to make them pay for what they had done. That's when my journey across the Bionis and Mechonis truly began."

"What happened when you found her again?"

"What was left of Fiora's body had been taken to Mechonis, where she was resurrected in a mechanical body. She had been repurposed with the intention to be used as the vessel of another Faced Mechon. Unlike some of the other Homs turned into Mechon, who had their memories completely wiped out, hers were simply 'blocked'. When I did find her again, she didn't initially recognize me or any of the others who were there with me. Only later did she regain those memories and her personality."

Robin began to smile a little bit. "I could only imagine how happy you must have been to of reunited with her after all that time."

Shulk also smiled back at her as he continued his story. "Once I found out that Homs were being turned into Mechon, with Fiora being one of them, my outlook on the situation changed. When I first set out on my journey, I simply wanted to destroy each and every Mechon for all that they had done; but once I found out there were Homs inside some of them, I needed to uncover the truth. The true turning point for me was when I learned that Mechonis had an entire civilization in hiding, called the Machina. They wanted the same thing as us Homs: To live in peace. My goal at that point had changed… and that's when we learned that Zanza, the god of the Bionis, was pulling the strings the entire time."

"What was Zanza after then?"

"Unlike Meyneth, the goddess of the Mechonis who loved her creations, Zanza only saw his subjects as a source of energy to keep him alive. He planned to use the Telethia, a race created for the sole purpose of wiping out all forms of life, to cause complete genocide across the Bionis. With the help of some key individuals, namely a man named Alvis, we successfully managed to destroy him. In the process, the Bionis began to crumble, as it had to God presiding over it. I was offered the position by Alvis, but I only used that power to do one thing: recreate the world to the point where it no longer had any need for gods.

"So your old world crumbled… then how different was this new world?"

"Honestly, not too different. All the forms of life across the Bionis and Mechonis survived, and we created a new Colony. It's been about a year and a half since the restoration began, and everything has been coming along pretty nicely." Shulk began to frown as he finished that sentence. "I wish I could say that that's where we all lived happily ever after… but that's unfortunately not the case."

Robin could tell this next part had to do with Fiora, as he had yet to reveal what became of her. "What happened to Fiora then?"

"Fiora was brought into the new world just like everyone else, but since Meyneth's soul was no longer inhabiting her body, she didn't have that long to live in that body. That's when Linada, a Machina doctor, supposedly found a solution. With her help, we managed to find an ancient piece of High Entia technology: a regeneration chamber. With it, Fiora would be able to return to her old body, but she would have to reside in the chamber for six whole months. After Zanza was defeated and the world was reset, we actually found out that the chamber was located in a cylinder hanger just outside Colony 9. Fiora entered the chamber, and thus began our six month wait for her return."

Whereas she was prepared to jump to conclusions and assume that this meant Fiora was a-ok, Robin remembered something Shulk said earlier. The attack on Colony 9 was the **first** time he had lost her. That's when she noticed Shulk beginning to tremble in his seat.

"And then… came the day when she was to leave the chamber…" Shulk thought back to the events that had transpired that day…

* * *

Fire.

The smoke had covered most of his vision. He could barely see inside the hangar, and the amount of noise almost made him go deaf.

When Shulk had woken up that morning, he initially thought today was going to be a day he and his friends would celebrate for a long time coming. What proceeded to happen, was not exactly what he had in mind.

Most of Fiora's closest friends had gathered to celebrate her return from her six-month departure into the regeneration chamber, and were making preparations across the house she and her older brother Dunban shared. Everything was coming along nicely…

And that's when Shulk, for the first time since Zanza's defeat, had a vision.

An entire horde of Telethia were descending upon the colony, destroying buildings and brutally killing all of its inhabitants. While Shulk was in initial disbelief that a number of Telethia had somehow survived the restoration process, he was able to describe his vision quickly enough so that the colony was able to defend itself.

When the attack finally came, the people of New Colony 9 were more than prepared. The Telethia were powerful, but ultimately very few casualties were had on the people of the colony. It was during the middle of the battle, however, that Shulk had **another** vision…

The cylinder hanger, which is where the regeneration chamber was held, was on fire. While most of the Telethia horde was busy attacking the colony, a smaller squad had specifically targeted the hangar. Shulk proceeded to make a mad dash to the hangar, with Dunban and Reyn in tow, hoping to save their friend…

But by the time they arrived, it was too late. The fire had already started, and the smoke and flames grew higher and higher.

By the time the hanger had burned to the ground, the rest of the New Colony 9 defense force searched the remains of the building to see if there were any ether cylinders left to salvage, or for any sign of Fiora's whereabouts. Unfortunately for Shulk and his friends, while a few ether cylinders were restored…

Fiora was gone.

* * *

"And all of that happened about 6 months ago…"

As Robin listened to Shulk's story, she could tell that Shulk was trying his absolute hardest to hold back from crying. The sight of him in such a distressed state almost made her want to break down too.

"I'm… so sorry, Shulk… That's just horrible…" Robin still had many questions she wanted to ask him. The one that was mainly bugging her, was how the Telethia were still alive. Weren't the presumingly erased from existence once Shulk's world had been reset? While she desperately wanted to know, she knew now was not the time to ask that. Not until Shulk was able to calm down a little…

After a few minutes of silence, Robin spoke up.

"You feeling any better now?"

"…Yeah. Thank you Robin, for listening to that. I… REALLY needed to get that out of me."

"If anything, I feel like I should apologize to you. I was the one who accidentally put those thoughts in your head, after that comment I made back in the library…"

"Robin, again, it's ok. I don't blame you at all for that. You had no idea."

Robin then remembered. She still wanted to know a few things after everything he had told her.

"Shulk, one question. Do you know how the Telethia managed to survive?"

Shulk sighed. "Honestly, no. After Zanza's destruction, there was no trace of them anywhere across what had remained of the Bionis. It wasn't until that fateful day they managed to resurface. What worries me the most is if they decide to attack again while I'm still here, competing in Smash…"

"What will you do, if you find out that does happen?"

"I'll probably have to talk Master Hand into letting me temporarily leave to go back home and deal with it. I just hope that the colony will be as well prepared to defend itself like it was the first time they attacked."

Robin grimaced. If that did happen, Shulk would very easily be able to take care of himself, but… what if he loses someone close to him again?

"Robin… what I'm about to say next may sound crazy or delusional, but it's my personal belief. Even though we found no trace of Fiora after that building had burned down… I refuse to believe that she simply died in that fire. After everything we went through, I know she wouldn't simply die to something like that."

"Shulk… that's not delusional to think at all." Shulk was admittedly very surprised to hear Robin say that.

"Really?"

"Of course. Remember how I told you how I sacrificed myself to destroy Grima? It took him awhile, but Chrom eventually found me again. I firmly believe we are not pawns to some scripted fate. If my bond with Chrom, Lissa, Sumia, Lucina, and all of the others was strong enough for them to find me again… I believe that without a doubt, your bond with Fiora is powerful enough that she had to of survived. Different circumstances, mind you… but don't give up hope just yet. I'm certain she's got to be out there, somewhere. You just have to find her."

Shulk grew silent. No better words could be said. Robin not only didn't disagree with Shulk's belief, she flat out encouraged it.

That's when Shulk reached over and brought her into a very tight hug.

"Thank you, Robin. Thank you for being such a great friend."

While she was initially surprised at his hug, she smiled, and gladly returned it.

They stayed like that for a while, safely in each other's presence…

* * *

Shulk slowly began to open his eyes. He remembered telling Robin his story, but was it… a dream?

As his eyes began to open, he looked at his surroundings. He was still sitting on the bench in the courtyard out back, with the clock tower of the mansion reading 9:30. An hour and a half after he and Robin's meeting. That's when he noticed something was holding him down. He looked down to see what it was, and while it wasn't entirely what he expected, it did explain a few things.

There was Robin, her head resting on his lap. _'Oh! Um… guess it wasn't a dream after all then?'_ Shulk thought to himself. _'You know… she actually looks kind of cute, when she's sleeping… Where the hell did that thought come from?'_ Discarding that previous thought, he decided now might be a good idea to wake her up.

"Hey, Robin… we both fell asleep. You can get up now." He lightly shook her awake, and she began to slowly open her eyes.

Once she realized where she was and where her head was resting, she immediately sprang up from her position.

"O-oh my god, I… I'm so sorry Shulk!" She was uncontrollably blushing, obviously embarrassed by the situation.

"I-it's ok. We must have fallen asleep after our talk…"

After a few moments of awkward silence between the two, Robin finally spoke up.

"I… probably ought to head back to my room. It's getting pretty late."

"Yeah… that's probably for the best. Here, I'll walk you there."

The two headed back to Robin's room. Once they reached her door, Robin slowly turned the knob, and looked back at Shulk.

"Thanks, Shulk… I'm glad we had this talk."

"Your welcome. I'm sorry I worried you the past few days with my temporary disappearance."

Robin was about to enter her room when Shulk stopped her.

"Robin, before you go, I need to let you know something." While she was tired, this managed to get her attention.

"What's that?"

"I've decided what I'm going to do. Once this season of Smash is over, and I head back to my world… I'm going to go on a journey. I don't care how long it takes, and I don't care how old I may be by the time I'm done. But I am going to find Fiora. I'll find her, and I'll bring her back. That's a promise that I intend to keep."

"That's… that's wonderful, Shulk! But… actually… that gives me an idea." Robin wasn't sure how he would respond to what she was about to ask, but she figured she ought to throw out the idea at least.

"An idea?"

"Once you head off on your journey… Let me come with you."

"Come again?"

"Let me come with you. I want to be there when you find her again. I truly believe you deserve to be happy, Shulk. And if I can be there with you to make that dream a reality, then that would make me even happier."

Shulk stopped and considered Robin's proposal. He certainly wouldn't mind her tagging along, but he wasn't sure if she was truly being serious about this, or if this was something she would back out of when the time actually came.

"If you really want to come with me, then I won't object. But what about the people of your world? Don't you want to return to them once this is all over?"

Robin realized the point he just made, but proceeded to back up her proposal. "I would go back to them first, of course, but keep in mind: Ylisse is at peace now. Relations with our neighboring kingdom Plegia have been relatively neutral. And besides, it's been awhile since my journey ended anyway… I certainly wouldn't mind going on a new one."

Shulk smiled. "Alright Robin, you got yourself a deal. Once this season of Smash has come to a close, I'll let you come with me on my journey."

"Thank you, Shulk. I promise you won't regret this decision." Robin went in for another hug, but this time Shulk had been anticipating it. After a few brief seconds, Robin opened the door to her room, and looked back at him one last time for the night.

"Well… goodnight."

"Goodnight Robin. I'll see you in the morning."

Robin closed the door, and began to change to her nightgown. While she didn't know what tomorrow had in store for her, she had a pretty clear idea of just who she was going to be dreaming about that night…

 **Robin and Shulk attained Support Level A!**

 **Shulk [Purple Affinity] Robin**

 **Budding Companions**

* * *

And now we know why Shulk was so initially upset at the end of the last chapter. But the question still remains... Did Fiora truly perish in that fire, or did she manage to escape in time?

I'm gonna be honest, while FemRobin x Shulk is not only the point of this entire story, but also a personal Crack Pairing of mine... I still am a very avid supporter of Shulk x Fiora. (It's practically canon in Xenoblade's actual ending anyways) I felt I would have been doing a very big injustice to her character if I just simply killed her off (without going into any sort of detail as to why) or pretended that she never existed, so that's why I made this chapter to kinda give a vague idea to her whereabouts. While Fiora was mentioned quite a bit in this chapter, I'll just go ahead and let you know she won't be making a physical appearance at all for the rest of this story.

Speaking of which, next chapter is the finale! And as for what I have planned... This last chapter will most likely be the longest one that I write thus far. Hope you all look forward to it! As always, make sure to leave a review if you got time. I'd appreciate any sort of feedback you guys can give, positive or negative.

One last thing: I did a shameless plug for Xenoblade Chronicles X last chapter, and by god I'm about to another one. Fire Emblem Fates is amazing and you should go play it. Localization controversy be damned!

Ok, I'm done. Until next time, toodles.


	4. Chapter 4: S Rank

**Author's Note: About time I got around to uploading this, eh? Sorry for the delay, but I finally finished the longest chapter to this story. And while I did say that this would be the final chapter last time, well... I kinda decided that it is, but at the same time it also isn't. I'll explain more at the bottom of the page.**

* * *

 **S Rank/ Pink Affinity:**

" _Robin, please… Stay with me!"_

" _S-Shulk, I…"_

 _Shulk was beginning to panic. Robin was quickly losing blood, and there was no help coming for them in sight. He tried carrying her back to safety as quickly as he could, but after the battle that had just ensued, he was running out of breath. While Shulk's own healing art, Light Heal, were able to keep her conscious, it wasn't enough to stop the bleeding._

" _No, we can make it through this… I won't let you die here!" Shulk tried reassured her, and himself for that matter. Unfortunately, Robin started to feel heavier and heavier in his arms._

 _That's when he felt her hand reach up and stroke the side of his face. He looked down at her and saw how much in pain she was in. He knew he had to keep running, but he felt himself stop in place. It was almost as if he already knew it was too late to save her…_

 _Robin began to tear up, but he could see her begin to smile._

" _Shulk… I'm… glad… the last thing… that ever saw… was… your face…" That's when Robin began to stop breathing._

" _N-no… no no no… ROBIN! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBIIIIIIIIIIN!"_

* * *

"NO!" Shulk woke up with a start, sweat pouring from his forehead. He took a look at his surroundings, and remembered what occurred the previous night. While he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he knew he shouldn't.

"Was that a dream, or… no. It had to have been a vision." Shulk proceeded to do what he normally did whenever he received a vision: Try to remember as many details as possible.

" _Well, we were in a forest. It looked… suspiciously like Makna Forest… but that entire area was decimated along with the Bionis… then again, many of the different regions the Bionis had were reformed into different biomes not too far from our new colony. It must be relatively close… but if it was that forest… then why was Robin in my world?"_

He remembered the promise he had made to her the night before, about letting her come with him back to his own world to help him in his search for Fiora. The question was how soon will that vision occur? The current session of Smash still had a few months left before it would be over, and they both agreed to not start their search until this session of Smash came to a proper conclusion.

And that's when Shulk very abruptly received his answer.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

The personal intercom on Shulk's desk started ringing. Master Hand installed one of these devices in each Smasher's room in the event that an emergency arose and he needed their immediate attention. Shulk walked to the desk and pressed the button and received the call.

" **I apologize for waking you up at this hour, Shulk, but a message awaits you in the communication terminal.** " If Shulk wasn't awake by then, surely Master Hand's booming voice would have done the job.

"It's quite alright. I was already awake anyway. Do you know who sent the message?"

" **Unfortunately I didn't catch his name, but he insisted that speaking to you immediately was of utmost importance.** "

"Alright. I'll head to the terminal and see who it is." Shulk switched off the intercom and headed out of his room to the communication terminal. Luckily for him, the terminal was very close to his room in the mansion, which was great considering how groggy Shulk still felt. The thought still worried him, though. Was this message coming from someone back at the colony? Did something bad happen that he was somehow unaware of? He tried to think of the possibilities, but he couldn't find himself to think all that clearly, between how tired he was with that dream he just had.

Shulk entered the communication terminal and sat at one of the empty booths. A whirring sound flowed throughout the room as the machine came to life. He then pressed another button on the side to notify Master Hand that he was ready to receive the feed.

"Ok, the communication terminal is online. Feed me the message through please." Shulk asked Master Hand. The screen changed, and the call was made.

" **Communicating with… resident of former Bionis…** "

After a few brief seconds the feed stopped being fuzzy and a person on the other side came into view. The person in question, was someone that Shulk knew very well.

"Dunban!?"

"Shulk! I'd like to apologize; I realize it must be very late where you are right now, but we have an emergency on our hands!" Dunban looked very tired himself, but it was most likely for some other reason than sleep depravity.

"What's happening? Is something wrong at the colony?"

"They haven't arrived yet, but we received reports from our Nopon merchants out charting the land around our colony. Evidently, a horde of Telethia have resurfaced once again, just like they did a few months prior."

"No… you don't mean…"

"I'm afraid I do. Since Zanza is no longer controlling them, they seem to be simply destroying everything around them in a chaotic frenzy. It's quite pathetic really. Telethia were created for the sole purpose of destroying all forms of life, but without Zanza controlling them, they have no specific target in mind, causing them to lose all sense of reason. Just pure instinct. In the current path that they are taking, the will inevitably attack the colony again."

"Do you know where they are right now? How close are we talking?"

According to the Nopon report, their current location was in a forest a few miles south of the colony, the forest that looks oddly similar to the Makna Forest back on the Bionis.

"The… forest?" That's when Shulk remembered something. In the 'dream' he just had, not only was he in that forest, but Robin was there as well.

It all started to make sense. Shulk received a vision of Robin most likely being killed by a Telethia in his own world.

"Shulk… did you potentially have a vision related to this?" Dunban questioned him. If there was one thing he gathered from their journey, Dunban was pretty easily able to tell if something was bothering Shulk. Shulk, however, decided to feign ignorance and changed the subject.

"…Do we know how soon this potential attack will take place?" Shulk started to formulate a plan in his head, but he needed to know how soon the Telethia were going to make their move.

"We don't have any real idea what the Telethia are planning, sadly. If they are still in the forest, would you suggest we make a counterattack on a small group of them before they reach the colony?" Dunban suggested.

"Admittedly, the thought did cross my mind, but I feel like I would need to know how big this horde really is. To answer your question… I think I **might** have, but some particular details of the vision don't quite make sense… at least not yet." Shulk took a deep breath, and sat back in his chair.

"I'll have Master Hand teleport me there as soon as he can. I'll come to the colony so we can discuss a plan on what to do next. See you in a few hours, perhaps?"

"Sounds like a plan. Talk to you soon, Shulk."

The feed cut out, and the room once again was filled with nothing but silence. Shulk went back to his room to change clothes and grab everything he needed. On his way back to Master Hand's office, he passed by a door that looked surprisingly familiar. He couldn't quite tell at first, given how tired he still was, but within a few brief seconds he realized whose door this was.

He was standing in front of Robin's room.

"… _I'm halfway tempted to tell her… but… no. She will be much safer if she just stay_ s _here until I get back. I'm sorry Robin, but I'm going to have to break our promise… for now. I'll see you soon."_ Shulk continued his way back to Master Hand's office. Upon arriving, the giant hand was floating behind his desk as usual. Even this late at night, Master Hand never understood the concept of sleep. Perhaps he never got drowsy, and sleeping wasn't a necessity for him.

" **I assume you need to travel back to your world for now?** " Master Hand asked Shulk.

"Yeah, for now emergency of sorts has arisen, and the people back at the colony need all the help they can get. Can you send me back there?"

" **Already got that covered. I'll make sure to reschedule your matches for today.** " Master Hand snapped his fingers, and behind him a giant blue portal made up of what looked like ethereal energy opened up along the wall.

" **I should warn you, though, that this portal is going to be a one-way trip for now. I have the power to send and bring anyone from one world to another, but I am unable to make those roundtrips. If you go there, I won't be able to pull you back to the mansion until tomorrow. Are you sure you have everything you need?** "

"Yes, I'm ready. Sorry about all this. I realize having to reschedule a bunch of matches last minute might be a bit of a pain."

" **Not to worry. It happens more often than I like to admit. Good luck out there, Shulk.** "

"Thank you. Now, time to go exterminate some Telethia!" Shulk walked through the portal, and within a few brief moments, he was no longer inside the Smash Mansion.

* * *

Robin woke up as usual that morning. She got out of bed, got dressed, and made her way to the mess hall for breakfast. Everything seemed to be in the same routine it had been for her the past few weeks. It wasn't until a certain voice spoke to her that her day would spiral into something that she certainly did not expect.

"Excuse me, Robin. Do you have a minute?" Robin turned around to see a face that she admittedly was not as familiar with: It was Ryu, one of the more recent arrivals to the Smash Mansion.

"Oh, hello Ryu. How can I help you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen Shulk? My first match that was scheduled today was against him, and I haven't seen him anywhere…"

Now that Ryu mentioned it, Robin HADN'T seen Shulk at all this morning. She initially thought he was probably just late getting out of bed, but then she looked at the time and noticed that the clock read 9:45. That couldn't have been right; Shulk was one of the few people here that she knew was a morning person. "Hm… Is he not in his room?" She asked Ryu.

"Admittedly, I already tried. The door was wide open, and there was no sign of him inside."

"…That's concerning news… I'll go ask Master Hand and see if he knows anything."

Master Hand was currently in his office, putting in the finishing touches to the new schedule for today's matches, given that Shulk would be absent for all of his today, when he heard a knock on the door. " **Come in!** " Said the giant hand. The double doors swung open, and in came a very perplexed looking Robin.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen Shulk?" Robin realized she just unintentionally echoed the exact same question that Ryu had asked her just a few minutes ago, but dismissed the thought and moved on.

" **Ah. So you noticed that he's nowhere to be seen? I was just about to make an announcement about this to everyone in a few minutes, but I'll go ahead and tell you now.** "

"What do you mean? Do you know where he is?"

" **An emergency of sorts seems to have arisen in his home world, and he asked me to temporarily send him back there until the situation was taken care of. Unfortunately, that means he won't be back until tomorrow at the earliest.** "

"…Oh. Well that explains why he just seemingly vanished. Did he leave during the middle of the night?"

" **Correct. I apologize for the confusion you or any of the others may have had this morning. I didn't want to wake everyone up suddenly just to announce that he would be undergoing a temporary leave.** "

That's when Robin realized something. Master Hand never mentioned what this 'emergency' was. "If… you don't mind me asking, what exactly was it that made Shulk return to his home so quickly?"

" **Well, I specifically didn't want to pry into something that was clearly not any of my business, but he mentioned it involved some creatures he called… Telethia, I think?** "

"T…T-Telethia!?" Sirens were blaring in Robin's mind now. If she remembered Shulk's story correctly, the Telethia were the creatures that were created to exterminate all traces of life found on the Bionis, and were also responsible for Fiora's apparent death.

" **So he told you of these creatures? What are they like, exactly?** "

"Well… if what he told me was correct, then the Telethia exist only for one purpose: destroy any and all forms of life that reside on the Bionis, so that their master, Zanza, can absorb their life energy and revitalize himself."

" **Hm… that does sound quite nasty. No wonder Shulk was in such a hurry to leave. This raises another question, though. I thought he eliminated Zanza, so why are the Telethia attacking now?** "

"Apparently, even though Zanza was killed, a small group of Telethia managed to survive. Shulk told me a similar attack on his colony happened a few months before he came to this place… but without Zanza giving them orders, they are nothing more than mindless beasts."

" **They might be… or are they perhaps evolving? With the way Shulk implied the situation before he left, it almost seemed like this was a calculated attack…** "

That's when Robin came up with an idea. An idea that part of herself was vehemently trying to reject, but…

"…Can you send me there? To Shulk's world?"

Master hand was puzzled by this. " **…Why would you want to do that?** "

"Well, Shulk might need help! Plus… he's my friend. I wouldn't be able to bear the thought of never being able to see him again. Please, can you send me there?"

" **I can send you there, but… there are a few things you need to keep in mind if I do. One, if I send you there, you won't be able to come back here until tomorrow. My teleportation skills may be powerful, but even I have my limits in situations like these. Two, if I do send you there, there's no guarantee you will know where you're going. It's an entirely different world than the one you are from. Are you certain you want to do this?** "

Robin spoke without too much hesitation. "Yes. I'm certain about this."

" **Very well. It will take me a few brief moments to open up the portal. I suggest you go to your room first and take with you anything that might prove useful.** "

Robin left the office and quickly headed to her room to grab her weapons of choice. The Levin sword and her tomes were a given, but one other weapon in her collection caught her eye as she was about to leave. She picked it up and dusted it off a little bit.

It was a rather heavy tome, and had a bright blue cover. The the symbol of Naga, which was also the Brand of the Exalt, was printed on the front.

'I haven't needed to use this during any of my matches yet… And although the Telethia may not actually count as dragons… I probably should take this with me just in case.'

She stuck the tome inside her coat, and headed back to Master Hand's office where the portal was waiting.

" **Robin… all I will ask is that you don't do anything too reckless. Make sure you and Shulk come back safely. I wouldn't want to suddenly announce to the rest of the smashers that something happened to you two…** "

"I promise. And thank you for this. Farewell for now."

Robin walked through the portal, and that's when everything around her began to change. The was a bright light that engulfed her vision, and within just a few brief moments, she found herself sniffing clean air, feeling a slight breeze, and hearing birds chirping. She opened her eyes and found herself in a lush, green forest.

"Alright… Let's think about our situation. I'm not sure if the invasion has started yet… so logically I ought to find out where the colony Shulk resides at is." She looked down and found a trail of sorts leading through a part of the forest. Chances are the trail was placed there by citizens of the colony, and hopefully led back to their home. She started to follow the trail, hoping that it would lead her in the direction she needed to go…

* * *

 _-About two hours prior: Colony 9-_

Shulk was standing in front of a round table with a huge chart on it, mapping out all of the regions that the Colony 9 residents had mapped out of the restored world so far. Most of his comrades, along with a few other key figures were also around this table, currently planning what to do when it came to defending the colony. Otharon, one of the two lead commanders of the New Colony 9 defense force, spoke up.

"I believe we can rule out the Telethia assaulting us from the air. The anti-air batteries were more than capable enough of keeping them out of the Colony the last time they attacked."

Then it was Dunban's turn to speak up. "Which means that their logical course of action is to attack from the front gates. We will need to keep our most able troops near the front, keeping up morale."

"Sounds like a simple enough strategy. Who do you recommend to take that position?" Otharon asked.

"This strike team would consist of myself, Shulk, Reyn, Sharla, Melia, Riki, and dare I say it… Vangarre."

Vangarre smirked a bit at that remark, while Otharon rolled his eyes. "Do any of the others mentioned have any objections to this?"

Shulk, Reyn, Sharla, Melia and Riki all shook their heads.

"Good. I say we go ahead and get ready, as the attack could begin any moment now. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone present at the table walked away, getting their weapons prepared for the oncoming attack. Shulk was somewhat lost in his own thoughts, until Dunban approached him.

"Shulk, now that I think about it… you mentioned that you had a vision before you came here. You mind telling me what you saw?"

Shulk sighed. That vision wasn't really one of the things he wanted to be thinking about right now, but he figured Dunban had the right to know.

"Well, from what pieces I've managed to put together, this vision takes place after the invasion is already over. In the letters that I sent to you guys while I was away… you remember me mentioning a girl named Robin?"

"I do recall the name, yes. Was she in this vision?"

"She was. What I don't understand yet is what exactly she was doing here in our world, as she has no real reason to come here, unless…" And that's when it hit him.

The only reason Robin would be in this world is if she found out why Shulk left the mansion in the first place, and the only real reason he didn't want her to be here was because of that vision, but he realized Robin would probably come anyway if she found out about the situation he was in.

'Ugh… I should have just woken her up and explained the situation.'

Then the alarms started blaring all across the colony.

"There's the signal! Come on you sissies, we got a bug hunt to attend!" Vangarre yelled at the top of his lungs, as he ran towards his post.

"And… there he goes. Try to make sure he doesn't get himself killed, ok?" Dunban stated to Shulk.

"I'll try, although persuading him to listen isn't his favorite thing ever…"

The two headed towards the front gate of the colony, ready for whatever Telethia may come their way…

The invasion had been going on for nearly an hour and a half, and to say that things were going well for the Colony 9 Defense Force would be an understatement. Unlike the previous invasion a few months back, the Telethia were mostly dropping like flies. While this could have been due to the Defense Force being well aware of how Telethia are capable of mind-reading and being well prepared to deal with it, Shulk wasn't sure. Despite how easy everything had seemed up to this point, he was beginning to get a little worried.

'This almost feels… TOO easy. Is this all apart of some sort of elaborate plan they have?' Shulk thought to himself. If there was one thing he was able to learn from Robin in the amount of time they have spent with each other, is that one should always make sure to never underestimate their opponent, no matter the situation. Perhaps this could have been Robin's tactician logic rubbing off on Shulk, but this thought process was weighing heavily in his mind right now.

* * *

After things seemed to have calmed down, the bulk of the defense force regrouped near the front gate. While discussing what to do next, a pair of Homs soldiers made their way into the colony from what looked like the forest not too far away. Upon arriving, they immediately saluted both Vangarre and Otharon.

"Scouting report! The bulk of invading Telethia have successfully been routed!" Said the first soldier.

"Good job boys! What else have ya got to report?" Colonel Vangarre proudly asked.

"It appears what's left of them have made a retreat back into the woods. Should we make chase, sir?" The second soldier asked.

"Is that even a question? OF COURSE we should make chase! We can finally eliminate these buggers once and for all!" Vangarre looked like he was ready to start running into the forest, until he was stopped by Shulk.

"Hold on, let's not be rash about this."

"What!? And why shouldn't we, exactly? Especially when we are this close to be ridding of these monsters for good!?

Reyn, one of Shulk's closest friends spoke up next. "Hold on a minute colonel. He might have a point… Shulk, did you get a vision or something?"

"Actually, no. It wasn't a vision, but… something about this doesn't seem right. Did you notice how easily we were keeping the Telethia out of the colony this time?"

"…Now that ya mention it, yeah. This was pretty easy. I just reckoned the Defense Force was actually getting better at their job for once."

"They may be… but this just sounds like a trap. If the Telethia are getting smarter like we think they are, this could be an elaborate ruse they conjured up."

Dunban was the one to speak next. "I agree with Shulk, but there's another thing that's bothering me about this. Why would they try to lure us out of the colony? In instances like this, most people would resort to setting a trap if they were had some kind of bait their enemies were after."

Reyn was a little confused by this. "…What exactly do you mean by that, Dunban?"

"Think of it like this, Reyn. The Telethia are using a fishing pole, and we are the fish. The question is, what kind of bait are they trying to use to lure us in? The thought of an easy victory, or is it something more?" Dunban explained to him.

Shulk pondered this. What could they have up their sleeve to pull a strategy like this?

And that's when he started to receive a vision.

 _He could see Robin fighting against a particularly large Telethia, and unfortunately not being able to do much in terms of damaging it. She pulled a blue tome Shulk had never seen before, and was preparing to cast a spell of some kind. Unfortunately, before she could properly cast it, the Telthia reached out with its huge claw and slashed across her chest._

 _The vision blurred a little, but Shulk could see bloodstains across the claw… in a very similar manner to…_

The vision ended, and before any of the others could have realized what just happened, Shulk began a mad dash towards the forest's entrance.

"SHULK! What are you doing!?" Reyn yelled at him.

"We'll figure out later! Obviously he has a reason to go in there, the least we can do is back him up!" Dunban retorted. With no time to argue, the two gave chase.

* * *

Robin was struggling, to say the least.

While she was following the path that she presumed led to the colony, a very loud scream came from the distance. Before she could even realize what direction it came from, she found herself under attack by two bipedal creatures with small wings on their backs.

'What… What are these things?' She thought to herself. She began to charge up her signature tome, Thoron, and let loose on the creatures. They knew the attack was coming, however, and easily swept out of the way and started swinging directly at her. Her reflexes were quick enough to get out of the way of their attacks, but the way that they dodged her first attack made her come to a very quick conclusion.

'They knew what kind of attack I was going to use… that shouldn't be possible… unless… They read my mind and found out!' She cast an Arcfire in an attempt to wall herself off from the Telethia, but this was only able to buy her a few brief seconds of time. Her strategy was to distract them with the wall of fire and then swing with the Levin Sword, but the Telethia proved to be a few steps ahead of her, and evaded the swing.

Suddenly, Robin came up with an idea. She began to charge up Thoron, but this time she heavily concentrated on that thought. Once the two Telethia were ready to strike once more, she quickly swapped the tome out for Nosferatu. The two were in close enough range that she was able to suck the life out of them and rejuvenate her own. With the two being stunned long enough, she let loose Thoron, and blasted them both to pieces.

Robin took this moment to catch her breath, but quickly realized she needed to keep moving. If just two of them were able to tire her out this much, she shouldn't be sitting in one place for too long.

And that's when she heard an ear-piercing scream from the sky above.

A large crash shook the ground, and blurred her vision. The sounds were deafening, and as the dust began to drift away, she saw another Telethia, but this one was quadruple the size of the first two she encountered. Robin tried to run, but found herself blocked off by a hill and a number of tall trees. The only way out was through the Telethia.

'I really could go for a miracle right now…' Robin told herself, and reluctantly engaged the giant behemoth.

* * *

"Shulk! Wait up for a second, will ya?" Reyn yelled to his friend, but it fell on deaf ears. Shulk's senses were thrown into overdrive after that vision that just occurred. He recalled the fact that the giant Telethia seemingly had her cornered. Given his anxiety, he was struggling to remember where in the forest that exact spot was.

And that's when he heard an ear-piercing scream from the sky above.

He could hear it in the distance, looked in the direction. A giant crashing sound followed not too long afterwards, and the entire ground beneath him shook. He started to follow the direction he heard the noise, but found himself once again getting ambushed by a group of Telethia.

Luckily, Reyn and Dunban also appeared, and were able to block their attacks.

"We'll hold these off for now. Just keep moving, Shulk!" Reyn yelled to his friend.

"But… are you sure!?" Shulk asked back.

"If what you told me was true, then she needs your help Shulk! We'll take care of these ones and catch up! Now GO!" Dunban shouted.

"…Alright. Thanks guys." As soon as he found an opening, Shulk proceeded onward, leaving Reyn and Dunban to take care of the smaller ones.

'Just hold on, Robin… I won't let you die here!'

* * *

'Come on… I just need to hold on a little longer!'

Robin dodged from left to right, but she was running out of breath. At this rate, she figured she would run out of energy by the time this monstrosity was taken down.

'Well, then I have no choice… time to see if my trump card will actually have any affect here.'

She pulled out her Arcthunder tome and fired at the Telethia's legs. Managing to land a direct hit, the Telethia found itself stuck in place for a few seconds, the spell briefly paralyzing it. Robin used this to buy time to bring out the tome she specifically brought with her if the situation called for it.

Robin began to create the enchantment for the Book of Naga.

A spell circle surrounded her as she began to concentrate, but the magic binding the Telethia together was beginning to wear off. Before the enchantment could be completed, the Telethia managed to break free from its bonds, and began to swing at her, breaking her concentration. It was almost as if her life began to flash before her very eyes…

"MONADO PURGE!"

A green beam was suddenly fired at the Telethia, knocking it back about 15 feet. The sound it made when it came crashing into the ground after losing its balance was deafening. Once the sound cleared up, Robin turned her attention to the direction the beam was fired from…

Where she saw a very tired out looking Shulk looking back at her.

"SHULK!"

"That should stop it from being able to read your mind for a few minutes. Now let's finish this thing!"

"Shulk, I… Yeah. Let's do this." While she was ecstatic to see that he was alright, she knew she had to turn her attention back to the matter at hand. The Telethia was down, but certainly not out. She needed to come up with an effective strategy to beat this thing, and now with its mind reading being temporarily impaired, this gave her time to plan properly without an audience listening in on what she was thinking.

"Ok Shulk, first things first. I'm going to need you to aggro it while I buy us some time to use the Book of Naga. Rally Spectrum!"

Robin raised up her hand, and Shulk felt all of his senses gain a slight increase.

"Got it!" Shulk ran towards the Telethia and swung at its front legs, as they were already injured from Robin's Arcthunder. With the speed advantage, Shulk was able to get in a good amount of hits while simultaneously dodging all the attacks being sent back at it. Meanwhile, Robin was using her Levin Sword to strike lightning bolts at its back legs, causing shock damage and paralysis to its backside while Shulk distracted it from the front. While the Telethia was very powerful, it was taking too much damage from two different angles, and with its mind reading abilities disabled, it wasn't able to concentrate enough to figure out how to deal with them.

After a few minutes of circling the giant behemoth, Shulk was able to sense that Monado Purge was wearing off, which meant that it's mind reading abilities would be reactivated.

"Robin! We have to take him out now! Is that spell ready yet?"

"Almost! Use your purge ability again, but this time use it to keep him in place!"

Shulk activated Monado Purge once more, but this time pointed the sword directly at the Telethia, more specifically, at its wings. As the beam of light exhumed from the blade, the Telethia found itself completely unable to move, between the paralysis in its legs and the Monado keeping its wings in place.

"Alright Robin, now's our chance!"

Robin pulled out the Book of Naga once more and opened it. The spell circle surrounded her as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate, the magic becoming stronger and stronger. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and slammed the book shut.

Light itself gathered around the Telethia, nearly blinding Shulk and Robin. The light began to grow brighter and brighter, and then the Telethia was bathed in a fireball of holy magic, and let out another ear piercing scream, but this time it became more and more faint the longer it shouted. After the light began to dissipate, Robin and Shulk could see that the magic spell left almost no trace of the monster behind. The Telethia had been completely eradicated.

Robin let out a loud sigh of relief. As she turned to look at Shulk, she suddenly felt as if her entire body was being constrained. Shulk had run up to her and pulled her into a very tight hug.

"Shulk, I…"

"Robin… I know you were worried about me, but I need you to promise me something, right here and now." She could feel his entire body trembling as he held her in his arms, cluing her in to how frightened he must have been.

"Robin, please… Don't EVER scare me like that again. I saw a vision of you fighting that thing… and if I hadn't of stepped in like I did, you wouldn't have made it out of that alive."

"Shulk… I'm sorry. I probably should have just waited for you to come back to the mansion. This… this was all my fault, wasn't it?"

"No Robin, this wasn't your fault at all. I probably should have told you where I was going before I even left. It's just…"

"…Just what?"

"…I've… already lost Fiora… I… Can't even begin to imagine what I would do if I lost you too."

It was at that point Robin returned the hug. The two stayed together, not caring about how much time was passing. As long as they were with each other, they knew they were safe.

* * *

 _That evening, back at the colony…_

After the people of Colony 9 found out the invasion was over, everything immediately returned to the way things were. People filled the streets, the shops opened back up, and commotion could be found at almost every corner. The threat had once more been dissipated, and while it was no guarantee that the Telethia were done for, it was a sign of hope.

Due to the fact that Robin and Shulk couldn't go back to the Smash Mansion until tomorrow morning, Shulk offered to let her spend the night at his residence. While his house wasn't that necessarily large, (only having 4 rooms in total; a living space, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom) he knew she didn't really have anywhere else to go until it was time for them to head back.

Robin was currently laying down in the bed that Shulk lent to her for the night, wondering what to do next. She had to admit, Shulk's hometown was a very nice place. Despite being populated by a number of different species, they all seemed to live in harmony and in peace; it was something she truly had admired during her brief time here.

She heard a knocking on the door. "Hey Robin, are you still awake?" Shulk called from the other side.

"Sure, come on in."

Shulk opened the door and sat on the bed, opposite side of where Robin was lying down.

"I… wanted to apologize about today. I didn't mean to get you caught up in this whole mess…"

His apology perplexed her. She sat up in the bed and looked at him in the eyes. "Wait, you're the one who's sorry? I should be the one apologizing to you though! I'm the one who followed you here…"

"I don't blame you for that. You were simply worried about me, is all. Realistically, I should have woken you up last night and explained the situation. Then there wouldn't have been so much confusion between us."

"Well… honestly this whole trip wasn't that bad for me. For one, I got to see where you grew up. This is such a peaceful town you live in. I'm quite envious, actually."

"Heh, thank you. I know you didn't really have a proper place to call home growing up, but what about Ylisse?"

"Ylisse is just about as peaceful, but there isn't the same amount of mixed heritage like there is here. Seeing this place makes me excited to see the rest that your world has to offer…"

"…About that…" Shulk looked somber after hearing Robin say that. She caught on to his lower tone.

"Shulk? What's wrong?"

"Robin… I need to talk to you about something. Remember how we promised each other we would venture off together after this season of smash was over?"

Robin nodded.

"…I hate to be the one to break a promise, but… I think this is something I really need to do myself."

"But… how come?"

"I'm… facing some very conflicting feelings right now when it comes to Fiora. I need to figure this out… but I think this is something I need to tackle alone."

"…Where did this thought come from, exactly? Can you tell me what's causing the conflict?"

Shulk sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wasn't sure how to word this without coming across as extremely awkward.

"Well… it's just that… As much as I believe that Fiora is still out there somewhere… part of me realizes that I might be kidding myself. I don't want to burden you with the task of finding someone who may not exist anymore. Especially as this is someone you have absolutely zero connection with."

"… I suppose you have a point." Robin quietly stated. 'I do have no connection to her at all… but if bringing her back is what it takes to make sure that you are happy… Then that is still something that I'm willing to believe is worth the trouble." Robin then realized the way she worded that statement. Shulk shot a questioning glance towards her.

"…You really would do this just to make sure I'M happy? That's… very kind of you to say, but… why do you put it that way?"

"Well… it's just that… Oh, who am I kidding!?" Robin covered her face with her hands. Shulk could feel her starting to tremble.

"Robin! What's wrong?"

"Oh, Shulk… I've been… keeping this to myself for a while now, but… I can't take it anymore. You need to know the truth." He could tell that she was starting to tear up a little. Why was she suddenly so upset? What caused this to happen? What was it that she's been keeping to herself?

"The truth is, Shulk… that… I'm… in love… with… you…"

Shulk said nothing. Robin was confused a little bit by his silence, but continued to pour her heart out to him.

"But I know, deep down, that your heart still does and always will belong to Fiora. And I can't bear to see you unhappy… So I know that this would never work out between us. Still, I feel like you deserved to know the truth."

"Robin…"

It was at this point Robin was actually beginning to cry. "I… I should just stay away from you. I've caused you nothing but pain, ever since that comment I made back in the library…"

Robin buried her face into her hands once more, but that wasn't stopping her from bawling her eyes out. Shulk knew he needed to do something to calm her down... but he was inwardly struggling to make a decision. Should he tell her the truth like she told him?

And then he made his decision.

He pulled Robin's hands away from her face, and put his right hand on her chin. He tilted her head up to look at him, and he could see not sadness in her eyes, but confusion. He managed to catch her off guard, and he decided to use this to his advantage.

So he leaned in and gently kissed her on the lips.

Robin was shocked by this sudden movement, but as a few seconds passed, she closed her eyes, and returned the kiss. As their lips parted, Shulk brought her in for a very tight hug.

"Don't think of it like that, Robin. While it is true, that my heart will always belong to Fiora… only now do I realize… It belongs to you too. I care about you just as much as I care about her. Did you not even remember what I told you after we defeated the Telethia earlier?"

Robin chuckled a little bit. "I guess not. It's just that… If you truly do love me, like I love you… I don't want you to think of me as nothing more than a replacement for Fiora."

"No, I don't think of you as a replacement, if that's what you were worried about. Robin, you mean so much to me. I don't want you to stay away from me, as that will only cause me even more harm. I feel like I need you in my life more than ever now. Not just as a friend… but as a true companion. Will you stay with me, Robin?"

Robin was so ecstatic to hear those words coming out of him. "Of course I will, Shulk. Nothing would make me happier."

They separated from their hug, and held each other's hands. "Although, there is something I feel needs to be addressed, if we are going to start this relationship."

"Ok, fire away, I'm listening."

"Just because the two of us are together doesn't mean we are going to abandon our crusade to bring back Fiora. The two of us are still going to go out there and find her. No matter how long it takes."

Shulk scratched the back of his head. "If you are still up for it, I'm game. I should warn you, my world has the potential to be a very scary place at times… especially considering how much of it we still haven't even fully charted yet."

"Well, we'll discuss our plans in greater detail once we get back to the mansion. Speaking of… when Master Hand brings us back… should we tell him and the others? About… us?"

"…Only if you want to. It's not like they are going to object to it or anything like that. The way I see it, we don't have to tell them, but we don't have to try and keep it a secret, either."

"Heh. I guess you have a point there. It's getting pretty late though, so we might want to get some shut eye."

"You got it."

Shulk got off the bed and started to take off his shoes. Robin made room for him in the bed, and by the time she looked back at her new boyfriend, he had already taken his shirt off. The sight caused her to blush a little, but that also couldn't stop her from smiling ear to ear. Shulk climbed into the bed and gave her one more kiss before starting to drift off to sleep. Before he did though, he said one last thing to her.

"Oh, and Robin, just in case I didn't make it clear earlier… I'm in love with you too."

Robin giggled and pulled him in close, and within minutes, the two drifted off to sleep in each other's arms, ready for whatever may come their way.

 **Robin and Shulk attained Support Level S!**

 **Shulk [Pink Affinity] Robin**

 **Together at Last**

* * *

And that's it! Thanks everyone for putting up with the wait on this one. (Well, all 5 of you that reviewed, anyway...)

And while I did say that this would be the last chapter, well... the answer is yes and no. This is technically the end of this story, but I have decided that I will write a fifth "Bonus" chapter that will cover what happens between Robin and Shulk a little while after the events of this story. If you can't tell where I'm going with this, well... This "Bonus" chapter is going to be a **Lemon**. (And it will be my first time ever writing one! Oh boy...)

I'm aware that not everyone is into that sort of thing, though, so I will be publishing this bonus chapter as a separate story. And hopefully it won't take me as long to get that out as it did to get this chapter out. Now that the semester has ended for me, I should have a lot more free time on my hands to get this out of the gate.

If you are interested, be sure to check it out when it's ready. If you're not interested, then consider this chapter to be the end of the story.

Alright, that should just about cover it. Until next time, toodles.


End file.
